How can we help our children flourish? And what is required for them to reach their full potential as human beings? On May 29 in Winnipeg, Gordon Neufeld spoke about how we can help all children grow to be the best people they can be. Much of what he had to say speaks to addressing the needs of children with […]
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This post is part of a series, taking a quick look at each developmental level, according to the work of Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder in their DIR/Floortime framework. As a child grows, they add new skills to what they learned in the previous levels. You can find the list of related posts here. When we meet children on the autism […]
Read moreThe last post was on understanding our children as the key to helping them be alert, calm and ready to engage with their world. To expand on that idea, here are some thoughts about what to do when they aren’t calm at all… What do you do if your child is yelling at you all the time? We arrive at […]
Read moreOne of the important foundations of successfully working with kids is that you need to get to know them. Each child is a unique individual. Kids with autism are no exception. Under what conditions do they feel comfortable and curious, so that they are ready to learn? The idea to understand is regulation. It’s the main concept of the first […]
Read moreWhat is Floortime all about anyway? This post (the first in a series) is about explaining what DIR/Floortime is, in ordinary parent language. How does this approach to autism intervention help us understand our kids better, and what strategies does it offer? I write this as a parent who has gone through training in our local program, taken one online […]
Read moreHere’s a big question: if all children learn best through play, why would our children with autism be any different? At the World Conference of Early Childhood and Education held in Moscow, Russian in 2010, the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) published a statement (available here) on play-based learning. They underscored the enormous importance of purposeful play based […]
Read more“Our child can’t get into ABA, so I guess we’ll have to settle for Autism Outreach.” I’ve seen this comment a few times recently, and it makes me sad. People think they are settling for second best with our local Autism Outreach program (based on DIR/Floortime). The truth is, ABA and DIR/Floortime have quite different goals and perspectives. While ABA […]
Read moreIt feels good to finally stop reinventing the wheel. In the beginning of our family’s journey, I felt I lacked direction or a supply of ideas to help engage with my children. I wanted something tangible, a concrete roadmap from point A to point B. So we went and bought every type of toy the kids showed interest in. Not […]
Read moreBooks and reading are important in our house. My husband and I are both readers, and we believe reading is an important foundation of learning at any age. When our children were born, we filled our bottom bookshelves with books for babies and toddlers, and got ready…but there was a glitch. Both of our children were very averse to letting […]
Read moreOn January 5, we were at Oxford Heights Community Centre to play in the gym, munch on some snacks, and although nobody chose to skate, the rink was open! It was a good time!
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